Children's Rights and the Cinematic Experience in the Digital Age: addressing regulatory challenges

Abstract

Digitization has profoundly reshaped minors’ cinematic experience, transforming both their modes of participation in artistic and cultural products and their pathways of content access. Once a privileged physical space for socialization and collective sharing, cinema is now embedded in a digital ecosystem dominated by streaming platforms and social media—an environment where consumption is individual, transmedial, and shaped by algorithmic logics. This shift entails the risk of homogenized cultural choices and increasingly passive viewing behaviours among young audiences. The article explores the evolution of children’s cinematic experience within the contemporary regulatory and digital landscape, analyzing the contractual terms, policies, and operational logics of major Video-on-Demand platforms. Particular attention is devoted to algorithmic recommendation systems, behavioural profiling mechanisms, and forms of targeted advertising which – while offering personalized viewing experiences – tend to erode cultural diversity and compromise both privacy protection and the critical development of minors. After examining the international and European legal framework on children’s rights in relation to the cinematic experience, the article focuses on the role of the Digital Services Act (DSA) in regulating the relationship between cinema and minors. It highlights the persistent protection gaps affecting Video-on-Demand services, which currently fall outside the DSA’s material scope. The argument advanced is that an integrated approach is required—one grounded in the principles of privacy by design, age-appropriate transparency, and the prohibition of dark patterns—to ensure a genuinely child-friendly audiovisual ecosystem. Finally, the article calls for a comprehensive rethinking of public policies and digital- governance models aimed not only at safeguarding minors but also at actively promoting their rights, recognizing them as autonomous individuals and active participants in cultural and artistic life in the digital age.